What's in the Morton Grove Clouds

Sneak Peek for Morton Grove's Weather: April 16 to April 22

• A good weekend to stay indoors and watch a good movie. Not the best of weekends weather-wise but the second half looks more promising than the first half. The largest chance of showers will be on Saturday.
• Temperatures will average several degrees below normal.
• Rain will average above normal through the period.
• Another active period of weather with numerous showers and thunderstorms likely next week, especially on Tuesday and Wednesday with some heavy rain possible in the village.
• Keep those umbrellas handy!

Weather Week in Review: April 8 to April 15 in Morton Grove

Significant rain on Friday, April 8 brought memories of a cold, fall day with wind chills in the 30s and high temperatures holding in the mid 40s with winds off of Lake Michigan. A widespread rain fell earlier in the morning with amounts of three quarters of an inch common over much of northern Cook County as a storm total.

The typical spring roller coaster ride officially began with the weather taking some wild swings on Saturday, April 9 and Sunday, April 10. These were welcome weather changes, however, with much warmer temperatures taking hold with high temperatures reaching 65 on Saturday, April 9 and a summer-like 83 on April 10. The record high for the date was a balmy 90 which was not in reach anywhere across the area.

A major story over parts of the Upper Midwest was a severe weather outbreak, which produced tornadoes across Iowa and Wisconsin over the weekend. Luckily for our area, thunderstorms missed the Morton Grove area to the north and south and any storms stayed below severe levels.

Even though some of the atmospheric conditions aloft supported the development of severe storms and possible tornadoes, a cap was firmly in place. A cap is a layer of warm air aloft which inhibits thunderstorms. Usually with height, temperatures aloft cool, so the contrast between the surface and the air up at 10,000 feet, for example, can create an unstable environment, thus leading to storm development in a hurry. A cap acts as a lid and simply prevents or delays a thunderstorm from popping up over a particular location. This time the cap was so strong, that most of the storms stayed north and south of us and hardly anything developed over the local area.

A cold front moved through on Monday, April 11 with heavy showers and storms staying well to our east. High pressure brought a period of very nice weather to Morton Grove from late Monday through a portion of Thursday with temperatures more seasonal during this time. An inclement period of weather would enter the weather scene on Friday, April 15 with deteriorating conditions expected toward evening as the storm draws closer to our region.

Happy spring Morton Grove!